Teachers 'see asylum children as asset'

Asylum seeker children are often "embraced" by schools that see them as an asset rather than a problem, education watchdog Ofsted has said.

Many were highly motivated and had parents who wanted them to do well, with the result that their progress was usually satisfactory and often remarkable as well as speedy, inspectors said in a report.

But Ofsted warned that the Government's "dispersal" policy of spreading asylum seekers across England was often carried out with little thought as to how it would affect schools.

Its report showed mainstream schools were able to cope, even when faced with an influx of new pupils after the normal beginning of term.

It looked at nursery, primary, middle and secondary schools in 11 local education authorities, in London, urban areas of the East Midlands and the North West and three shire counties.

The proportion of pupils entitled to free school meals ranged from 8% to 75% and the those whose first language was not English from less than 5% to more than 90%.

Half had a high turnover of pupils - one saw 27% of its roll come and go during a single school year.

Despite these problems - which Ofsted said were often compounded by inaccurate information from the Home Office, immigration services and other agencies about the families concerned - teachers believed these children represented opportunities to "enrich the cultural life of the school".

One headteacher said they were "better than any training video" on how to make all pupils feel they were not being left out.

Successful examples of integration included a class making a welcome poster for a teenager in both English and his native language and preparing a birthday party for him.